TWENTYFOURLIES’ TEN BEST MOVIES OF 2009!
I was initially going to make this the Twenty Four Best Films, but then I realized how difficult it was to rank twenty four different movies (I’ll include the others as honorable mention). So anyways, you may have noticed I haven’t made any new posts in the past week or so. Not only was it a rather stale week of movie news, but I’ve been incredibly busy watching all the movies that I missed this year; and there were dozens of them! 2009 was an awesome year for diversity and genre, and while the academy awards may be lacking some clear-cut critic’s favorites this year, the arthouse and independent world has never been happier (not to mention the sci fi geeks). There are still several movies that were released in 09 that I likely won’t be able to see until a few months from now, but I’ve managed to put together an entirely subjective list of movies I’ve watched in the prior year. I’m hoping that you honestly seek out some of these titles as I think I’ve been able to dig up some rather intriguing hidden gems that were quietly overlooked in 2009. Take a look at the list below.
10) The Hurt Locker
Kathryn Bigelow, director of Point Break, has turned in one of the most intense and suspenseful war films I’ve ever had the privilege of watching. Free of any political or social commentary, The Hurt Locker takes you on a merciless journey of white knuckled action, and puts you in the middle of it all with some fantastic cinematography and awesome pyrotechnics. Not to mention the great performance by an incredible cast.
9) Pontypool
A brilliant take on the zombie horror genre, it takes all the traditional ideas about the flesh eating undead and turns it into one of the most original and creative horror films I’ve ever seen. The acting here is the true star, as without the top notch performances given by the cast members, Pontypool wouldn’t be half as suspenseful as it is. Regardless, the Canadian indie zombie flick is certainly worthy of its title as the most intellectual zombie movie ever made.
8) The White Ribbon
Michael Haneke never ceases to amaze me. His latest effort constructs a beautiful story revolving around the seeming normality of a rural German town that is anything but. Crisp black and white photography keeps the viewer viscerally engaged as we slowly gather that there is something drastically wrong amongst the villagers of this town; there is a secret being kept, from us, and from the characters themselves.
7) Tetro
Francis Ford Coppola is back, and in full form. After his more recent failures with films such as Youth Without Youth, Coppola struck back this year with the thematically and aesthetically brilliant Tetro. The performances by the lead actors/actresses (most notably Vincent Gallo) are among the best that I’ve seen this year, and this film is by far the most gorgeous thing you’ll witness at a theatre in a long time.
6) District 9/Moon
I know that comparing the two is irrelevant, they are entirely unique films, unlike each other in every way. This year, however, has been incredibly kind to genre films and first time directors. Both Moon and Disctrict 9 are astonishingly creative testaments to the ingenuity of and intelligence of their creators. Neill Blomkamp and Duncan Jones are sure to go on to some truly great things for the world of cinema. Well done guys.
5) Gomorra
A crime drama unlike anything you’ve seen before. Matteo Garrone brutally exposes the inner workings of an Italian crime syndicate based in Naples in which the young look up to the old who egg on their fanciful ideas about all the drugs, women, and money they could ever want. Meanwhile, the day laborers under the Mafia’s control work for next to nothing, and struggle to avoid being killed. Gomorra is relentless in every sense of the word. Truly the most gritty, and unsettlingly realistic thing to hit cinemas in a while.
3) A Serious Man
In this personal story from the veteran Coen brothers, they return to their hometown in the Minneapolis suburbs to tell the tale of a man who only wanted to lead a wholesome and good life, a “serious man”, if you will. Unfortunately it’s not always that easy. Michael Stuhlbarg gives an incredible performance as our earnest, day-to-day hero who finds absolutely everything going wrong in his life. The Coens construct some interesting philosophies here for those times in life when you just feel that everything is going completely out of control; and this sure makes for a hysterical movie.
2) Un Prophete/Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Again, these movies are absolutely nothing alike, other than the fact that they are both about crime in some way, it’s just difficult to rank these films when some are directly on par with others. Un Prophete is a gorgeous and infinitely detailed biographical account of a young man’s rise to incredible power behind the walls of a prison. He isn’t left without guilt for the things he must do to survive in prison, and the suppression of that guilt continually leads to worse things. Bad Lieutenant is a brilliant noir flick concerning Nicolas Cage as a corrupt cop in post-Katrina New Orleans. His corruption quickly turns to insanity and he easily gets away with it all simply by flashing his badge. Roger Ebert may have said it best in his blog: “Herzog paints the storied city in dark shadows and a notable lack of glamour, and when he involves Cage in a stare-down with an iguana it somehow needs no explanation. I predict they’ll work together again.”
1) Antichrist
I’ve gone back and forth so many times on this one that it gives me a headache. How could something so despicable and utterly repulsive be my absolute favorite movie to come out in 2009? Beyond that, how could something so despicable and utterly repulsive be one of the most beautiful and thematically rich films I have ever seen? And then the answer struck me like a ton of bricks. Lars Von Trier. One man’s name is the answer to all of these questions, and it is his ideas that have critics and film scholars alike struggling to sit through some of the most brutal scenes in cinema history to witness some of the most in depth and intriguing themes ever displayed on film. Emerging from a six month long bout of depression, Von Trier has created a stunning testament to the ideas of intrinsic evil versus the evil we see in the things around us, and thus give to the things around us. In doing so he has crafted one of the most controversial films in history.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
The following were unfortunately not included on the list, but were fantastic films nonetheless. Any one of these could have been number eleven, and you should definitely try to check them out on DVD in the upcoming year if you have the chance.
The Class, The Informant, Police Adjective, Star Trek, Adventureland, Bronson, House of The Devil, The Girlfriend Experience, Goodbye Solo, The Limits of Control, Mammoth, Everything is Fine, Inglorious Bastards, Revanche, Polytechnique, Up In The Air, Where The Wild Things Are, You The Living, Black Dynamite, Deliver Us From Evil, 9, Departures, Stingray Sam.
-William Gutheil
